Renewable Refrigeration Technique: A Theoretical Perspective

for Food Preservation

Md Iqbal Ahmad1, Subhro Chakraborty2, Surajit Sur3, Anish Chakraborti4

Prasun Das5, Pulak Mandal6, Tandrima Ganguly7, Sandip Dutta8
1
(Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, University Of Engineering &Management,
Jaipur, India)
2
(Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering Department, University Of Engineering & Management,
Jaipur, India)
3
(Assistant Professor, Electronics Engineering Department, University Of Engineering &Management,
Jaipur, India)
4 th
(4 Year BTech, Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Student, University Of Engineering & Management,
Jaipur, India)
5,6 rd
(3 Year BTech, Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Student, University Of Engineering &
Management, Jaipur, India)
7,8 rd
(3 Year BTech, Civil Engineering Undergraduate Student, University Of Engineering & Management,
Jaipur, India)

Abstract

Food and energy is a basic requirement for the existence and development of human life. All the foods that are
consumed by the human being are obtained from the plants & animal kingdoms. The variety of foods grow in the
different season and many of them are required for whole year by the human being in different parts of country.
Therefore it become crucial to preserve the foods, by cost-effective and energy efficient techniques. The demand
for energy is growing at an alarming rate every year. Therefore solar-powered cooling is one of the technologies
which allows to obtain, by using the renewable solar source, an important energy saving compared to conventional
refrigeration technique.India stands as one of the major food producer in the world. The green revolution & white
revolution refer to the rapid increase in food grain and milk productivity respectively and changed India`s position
from being a net importer to becoming self-sufficient with regard to food production. Over half of its population
is involved in agriculture associated activities. Estimates indicate that post-harvest food wastage due to inadequate
cold storage at 40% for fruit and vegetables alone without including dairy produce and food grains. Therefore, it
is essential to develop a moderate capacity solar refrigeration system which can be operated independent of the
electrical grid. This study is an investigation into the methods of solar refrigeration that can be adopted for the
purpose of reducing food spoilage in rural parts of India.
Keywords: Renewable, Solar Energy, Refrigeration Technique, Food Preservation.

Introduction: remote parts of India where significant wastage or

The Indian Food Preservation & Cold Storage
Scenario:
 A brief summary
This paper is an investigation into an efficient solar
powered refrigeration system for food preservation
basically to support the agricultural base products
(specifically fruits and vegetables) in rural and
spoilage of food or produce take place and
consequent loss occurs due to the lack of
refrigeration. Rising energy costs and peak demand
are generating new interest in solar-thermal energy
based refrigeration systems. These can compete with
electrical or conventional energy based refrigeration
system.
  Why solar refrigeration technique for
food preservation relevant to India:
1. Ambient temperatures are high throughout
the year in the most parts of the country.
Higher ambient temperature provides more
energy input.
2. There is huge potential demand for
refrigeration in rural areas, which are best
suited for solar energy based refrigeration
system.
3. Solar cooling appears to be an attractive
technique due to fact that when the cooling
demand is more, the sunshine is strongest.
 Renewable energy scenarios:
World developments in the field of energy supply,
after the oil crises of the 1970s and the oil crisis of
2004, are showing the way to more serious steps
towards sustainability in strategic energy planning,
the improvement of energy efficiency and rational
use of energy. Renewable energy sources are
increasingly becoming a key factor in this line of
thought.
Using fossil fuel as the primary energy source has
led to a serious energy crisis and environmental
pollution on a global level. Renewable energy is a
promising alternative solution because it is clean
environment friendly. Approximately half of the
global energy supply will come from renewable in
2040 according to European Renewable Energy
Council (EREC) (2006).
 India and its Socio-Agricultural
Scenario
India with diverse soil and climate condition
comprising several agro-ecological regions, provide
ample opportunity to grow variety of crops. The
recent Indian union budget (2012-13, p.179) places
the contribution of agriculture to the GDP of India at
14.5%. India transformed from being a net importer
of food since independence to becoming self-
sufficient in its food produce through the green
revolution for food grains and produce and through
the white revolution for dairy products.
Ample sunshine, diverse agro-climatic conditions
and rich soil types support the production of
various food and commercial crops.
 The Indian Food Industry
India has experienced a considerable degree of crop
diversification in terms of change in the area under
various crops, since the green revolution which was
largely oriented toward increasing grain production
to meet the objective of self-sufficiency and resolve
the country food security problems. Horticultural
crops form a significant part of total agricultural
produce in the country comprising of fruits,
vegetables, flowers, medicinal, aromatic plants and
mushroom are the key drivers of the economy
development of the country. Therefore, there is an
urgent need to develop such technique which is most
suitable and practically efficient in rural areas of the
country. As horticultural crops (vegetables and
fruits) play a significant role in India economy,
improving the food preservation technology with
solar refrigeration may be a great contribution in
Indian economy and in energy security.
 The demand forecast scenario
Based on data from the central statistics organization
of India, an analysis of the food and agri-business
industry in India by Business Monitor International
identified that the Indian food market consumption
was registering growth at a phenomenal 5.32%
compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
This would place the market in 2020 at twice the
value of 2010 levels. This is shown in the trend
graph below. The industry has however exceeded
this growth rate as can be seen in figure.
  Shift in demographic profile:
The median age of Indian population is 24 years and
approximately 65% of Indian population is below 35
years of age. The large population of working age
group forms a wider consumer base for processed
products.
 Increasing number of working women:
The number of working women, as a percentage of
Figure: Food Consumption Trend in India
the total female population, has grown from 12% in
1961 to close to over 25% resulting in demand for
 Growth Forecast in Processed Food
convenience food.
Industry and Organized Retail:
NABARD is the acronym for National Bank for
The food processing industry is expected to see
Agriculture and Rural Development which is the
growth at 7% CAGR driven primarily by
apex development bank in India responsible for
urbanisation and sustained economic growth which
facilitating credit flow for agricultural and non -
opens the market to products at premiums.
farm rural uplift and sustained development.

 The Fruit and Vegetable [F&V] sector:

This paper focuses on the applicability of solar
refrigeration to highly perishable items with very
low shelf lives.
Some reasons for this focus is because of the volume
of the market that India can stand to cater and the
trending towards agricultural cropping which is seen
as producing better value for the cultivators. This
notable shift towards agricultural crops is studied in
Figure: Processed Food Market Trends.
a paper by Sharma & Jain (2011). Following is an
 Growth Drivers of the food Industry:
excerpt of the same:
A strategic plan by the Ministry of Food Processing
“The findings of the study reveal a structural shift in
Industries in India identified the following drivers
consumption pattern away from cereals to high
for the growth trend in the food industry the excerpt
value agricultural commodities, both in rural and
of which is given below
urban areas, in the last two decades. This shift in
 Food and grocery dominates total retail
dietary patterns across states and income classes is
spend:
also observed. The results reveal a relatively strong
While rural consumers spend around 53%5 of their
and growing demand for livestock products and
total consumption expenditure on food, urban India
fruits and vegetables in both rural and urban areas.
spends 40% of their retail spend on food items
The average expenditure as well as share of
thus offering huge opportunity for processed food
beverages has increased by about six times in both
products.
rural and urban areas.
Due to shift in demand pattern towards high-value
crops, the farmers have also responded to market
signals and gradually shifting production-mix to
meet the growing demand for high-value
commodities. This is reflected in the changing share
of high value crops in total value of output from
agriculture.
Overall, fresh fruits and vegetables exports represent
a very small share of domestic production and Renewable refrigeration techniques:
agricultural exports but have increased
significantly.”
India currently accounts for 13% of vegetable and
12% of fruit global annual production. While this is
the case, India’s global market share for produce
trade in this sector is very low.
However, poor processing facilities and weak
infrastructure for post-harvest processes, storage and
transportation lead to wastage of nearly 30% of this
produce resulting in a very low share of the global
trade at only 1.38% despite the strength of its supply Figure- Renewable refrigeration techniques

base. It aims to increase the food share from this pathways

level to 3% by 2015. Horticulture contributes to 28% The solar cooling system is generally comprised of

of the agricultural gross domestic product of the three sub-systems: the solar energy conversion

nation with the sector seeing rapid growth system, refrigeration system, and the the cooling

(Economic Times Bureau, 2012). load. The appropriate cycle in each application

 The Indian Cold Chain Scenario depends on cooling demand, power, and the

A cold chain is supply chain which requires the temperature levels of the refrigerated object, as well

control of temperature to protect the value of the as the environment. A number of possible “paths”

perishable products within the chain. This from solar energy to “cooling services” are shown in

temperature control is required in many types of Figure.

agricultural crops to enhance the shelf life of the Starting from the inflow of solar energy there are

produce and is required right from the moment the obviously two significant paths to follow; solar

harvest occurs till it reaches the consumer. thermal collectors to heat or PV cells to electricity.

The impact of cold storage on the shelf life of some For solar thermal collectors, different collector types

of the fruit and vegetable produce is indicated as produce different temperature levels. This indicates

shown in the Figure The extra time would allow that the temperature level can be matched to various

goods transfers across greater distances while cycle demands. For example, the Rankine cycle

maintaining quality and is thus indicative of the requires a rather high driving temperature whereas

value that a strong cold chain can create. the absorption cycle manages at a lower temperature
level of heat supply.
The same type of temperature matching is important 4. Chemicals
for the cold side of the solar cooling path, i.e in the 5. Marine products
cold object. Since several cycles typically operates
6. Processed meat & poultry etc
with water as a working fluid, it is impossible to
Conclusion:
achieve temperatures below 0°C for some cycles.
When using low temperature applications for food
The solar thermal driven air-conditioning cycles
storage at 0 to -8°C, various cycles can be applied,
can be based on absorption cycles, adsorption cycles
i.e. the vapour compression cycle, thermo-electric
duplex Rankine, desiccant cooling cycles, or ejector
cycle (Peltier) and vapour absorption cycle. A
refrigeration cycles.
suitable cycle for this application has proved to be
 Performance analysis: the PV-driven vapour compression cycle. The
With the help of two hypothetical solar refrigeration
double effect absorption cycle, adsorption cycle and
system one of the most economic and efficient can
chemical reaction cycle can also be used, especially
be can analyzed by considering two different such
for larger cold storage for the preservation of food.
as system 1, which is a solar thermal (heat) driven
Typically for the cycles in above Figure is that, the
refrigeration system and system 2, is PV’s driven
efficiency of the electricity-driven refrigeration
refrigeration system.
cycles are quite high but they require photovoltaic
Now considering System 1, a heat driven cycle
panels and batteries, which are expensive. Heat
with a cycle COP of 0.7 receives its heat from a
driven cycles on the other hand, are less efficient,
solar collector with 80% efficiency. System 2, a
but the thermal solar collectors may reach much
vapour compression refrigeration cycle with a
higher conversion efficiencies than the PV’s even
COP of 4 receives its electricity from a PV array
though the output is heat, not electricity.
with an efficiency of 15%. Which one give the
However there are number of advantages in using
highest overall efficiency? In this p ap er ,
thermal solar collector absorption cycle as follows:
efficiency is denoted STR, System Thermal
1. It very economical as compared to PV
Ratio.
operated refrigeration system.
The calculation is simple and straightforward,
2. It requires less amount of mechanical
whereas the result is more difficult to interpret.
work input.
Apparently, there are at least two paths to the
3. Smooth in operation and maintenance cost
same overall efficiency. There is also a necessity
is low.
to better define the various efficiencies needed
4. It can provide very large capacity more
for the analysis.
than 1000 Tonnes.
STR1 =η collector * COPcycle = 0.7 *0.8 = 0.56
5. It works efficiently under fluctuating load
STR2 =ηpv * COPcycle = 0.15 *4 = 0.6 etc.
The calculation is simple and straightforward, Therefore, now it clear from the above discussion
whereas the result is more difficult to interpret. that I have to go for thermal solar collector
absorption refrigeration system for efficient
 Solar Refrigeration Applications:
1. Fresh Fruits And Vegetables operation and better performance etc.

2. Preventive medicine (mainly vaccines)

3. Ice cream and dairy products
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